This may not be a 100.00% authentic Hip Hop song (maths rap maybe) but it is made with the aid of computors, and it's pretty funny: Hard n' Phirm As a true-blue dyed-in-the-wool Kiwi New Zealander I am aware it's my patriotic duty to gush over the Flight of the Conchords, but I can't because the Benka Boradovsky Bordello Band is in fact THE best band EVER. If these drunken gypsies don't make you smash your computor and dance on the keyboard I'll eat my hat.

For what it's worth I agree with you that there are certainly levels of musicality and appreciable differences in talent and its application. We all know that 98% of everything produced isn't worth mentioning, but not understanding the metrics of quality in different formats isn't a mark of superiority in others. I do believe that at some point you just have to say, "I find no appreciable value in what is being represented." But for some people the metrics are going to be different, the life experiences are different and the emotional response is different. A lot of people that might really be on Dead Prez's wavelength might have not have any respect for Patsy Cline. I am not trying to create a false equivalency, I think you have already put that out there. For the record, I enjoy both Dead Prez and Patsy Cline for completely different reasons.

Dang, 4 posts in one day. Mr. John, I have a question. Imagine that in another dimension you decided to become a professional rapper, you give up most other activities to pursue this. keeping in mind that you actually would rap, "What would you do to become the greatest rapper of all time?"

John, congratulations on new heights of trolling. The way you've so economically twisted perfectly valid points into such demented and irritating forms is masterful, as evidenced by the bumper crop of retarded comments from both 'sides' of the 'argument'. I salute you! <^_^/

They all swear they are the only legitimate ones and everyone else is a sellout to whitey or the man

they are all equally preposterous, sound exactly the same, and their disciples all argue about which one is the great 2%

Even as someone who likes hip hop, I'm inclined to agree on this to some degree and the general conservatism that the scene's fallen into.

The actions of most rappers who feel like the scene has lost direction, isn't to move it forward in a different direction, but instead to fall back to some mis-perceived "old school".

Similarly, when someone like Cee-Lo, moves from rapping to a more singing delivery (both in solo material and with Gnarls Barkley), he gets derided from portions of the rap press because he's not delivering the same material he'd done for the previous portion of his career (not to mention for daring to work with a producer who didn't start in hip-hop).

And of course the worst crime of daring to appeal to people who don't normally like rap.

John, do you like any funk, soul, disco, or (original) electro/techno? If no, I wouldn't waste my time trying to show you the light since this is what Hip Hop derives from. If yes, then there may still be hope. Let me know...

I hate to belabor this point any more, but I feel the need to share my idea of the 2%. For the record, I don't think that flashing "subversive" text on the screen makes a song thoughtful or otherwise good. And yeah, the extent to which everyone in hip hop says that everyone else sucks is ridiculous. Which is why this collaboration of two very talented poets doesn't suck, in my opinion. There's more that doesn't suck, but I'm just gonna let it rest.